


i finally figured out myself for the first time

by musicspeakstoo



Series: boy you was battle born [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 06:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11202660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicspeakstoo/pseuds/musicspeakstoo
Summary: The return of Bruce means the emergence of a side of Tim that Damian didn't know existed.





	i finally figured out myself for the first time

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! And it's not just me who's back! The Killers, the lovely bestowers of (most) of the titles in this verse have a brand new song and I gotta say, I dig it. And our dear sweet Timmy has a return date of September 13 in an arc called A Lonely Place of Living James Tynion you _babe_. Anyway, this is again set in the future of this verse sorry I keep holding out on the older stuff but rest assured, it'll come. 
> 
> This basically stems from my hatred of Tim being drawn as preppy when in the original comics, he was a 90s punk boy which yes is petty but it's my verse and I do what I want. Anyway, I am breaking the tradition of titling these after Killers songs because this a Very Special Fic and if I'm doing punk Timmy he's gotta have a punk title so the title is from Coming Clean by my punk fathers Green Day. Unbeta'd as always. Enjoy!

About a week after Bruce returns to WE (which is much later after he’s come back from being stuck in time), he announces that he’s taking back the CEO position from Tim. Damian doesn’t really understand what the big deal is, Drake had frequently complained about his duties at Father’s company, but Dick and Jason had seemed angry and Pennyworth appeared concerned. Cain and Brown had even phoned, apparently. Regardless, he feels it’s an overreaction to find the eldest former Robins hovering around the entrance to the Cave, arguing over who should go in first.

“What are you two idiots dithering about?” he demands, going over to the clock and opening the entrance.

“Timmy’s down there,” Dick explains, the picture of concerned older brother, “it’s the first time he’s been here since Bruce took the company back.”

Jason nods, “Baby B’s sensitive about these things and I don’t wanna ruffle his feathers.”

Jason does not appear as concerned as Dick, but the concern is the same.

Damian rolls his eyes, “So you’re fighting over who has to go first, in case your mere presence incurs his wrath.”

They both nod and Damian huffs, “You two are cowards. However, if it will make you feel better, I propose that we all go together.”

“Solidarity,” Jason considers.

Damian resists the urge to roll his eyes this time. He looks to Dick, who nods and then turns toward the stairs. They walk down with Damian leading the way, Jason and Dick on his heels. There’s some kind of godawful noise that Damian supposes could pass for music blasting and in the open space between the computer and the showers, Drake is wearing a red and black plaid skirt and a black, ratty t-shirt that says something Damian thinks is “Green Day” in green on it. He’s wearing scuffed sneakers and appears to be doing something on a skateboard.

The three of them stop on the stairs for a moment, just taking in the scene. Then Jason whoops (right in Damian’s ear, blast him) and says, “He’s back!” and thunders down the stairs. He scoops Drake up into a hug, swinging him back and forth like a rag doll. Damian would have stabbed him, but all Drake does is fail to hide a grin. 

Damian scoffs and then glances at Dick. He’s got a strange look on his face, like he can’t quite pick an emotion. It’s the look he always gets whenever Drake and Jason display how close they are. Perhaps, Damian thinks, he will ask Dick about it someday. Jason and Drake are laughing when he and Dick join them.

“Looking good, little brother,” Dick says.

Damian does not necessarily agree, but he must note that Drake seems more relaxed in these clothes than he did in the suits and other more formal attire he previously wore. He holds himself the way he did when he wore the Robin suit, Damian notes. 

Drake smile shrinks, slightly, “Thanks, Dick.”

“What the hell are you wearing, Drake?” Damian asks, because someone in this room must have sense and clearly it’s going to be him.

Jason and Dick both scowl at him but Drake merely laughs, “This is what I _really_ wear. Now that I don’t have to be a CEO and the public face of WE all the time, I can finally get back to normal clothes.”

Damian would highly contest “normal” considering the skirt is Cain’s and there’s a hole in the armpit of the shirt, but it just further cements that Damian is his father’s true heir. As the sole possessor of sense among his father’s Robins, he clearly also must be the fashionable one too. He makes a note to have Pennyworth take him shopping later.

Jason pulls Tim into a headlock and gives him what Dick had previously informed (and demonstrated to) him was a “noogie.”

“You crazy punk, you.”

Dick laughs, “The nineties are over, Timmy, punk is dead.”

Jason and Tim stop and look at Dick. “Punk is never dead,” Tim says with utter seriousness, but Jason’s smirk removes any harshness of the statement.

“Ah, yes, that’s why you’re listening to punk from the 90s then hmmmm,” Dick teases.

“First of all,” Tim starts, “this album is from 2002. Second of all, Against Me! are amazing and continue to make good music to this day.”

Damian scoffs, “So that’s what this garbage is.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Damian sees Dick wince as Jason and Drake swivel as one (which is definitely not creepy, Damian is an assassin he does not get creeped out) to look at him.

“What did you just say? Did you just insult our punk mother Laura Jane Grace?” Jason says, his flair for dramatics clearly on display.

“I think he did exactly that, Jay,” Tim replies, voice cool.

They advance on him slowly and Damian backs up warily. There’s something about the situation Damian can’t quite read, a feeling like he’s missing the real point of the interaction. It makes him tense and his mind runs through the possibilities to brace himself for. 

Thankfully, Dick wouldn’t know subtle if it waved a katana in his face, so when he laughs and tackles Tim, yelling “Run, Dami,” as he does so. Jason laughs and takes off in pursuit but Damian’s already running. He avoids Jason pretty well until they’re back by the practice mats when Jason leaps and tackles Damian to the ground. He can hear Dick and Tim laughing and shouting from over by the computer as Jason pins his legs. Jason then proceeds to make Damian seem entirely undignified by tickling him. 

Between that and the music still blaring from the computer, Damian will allow himself to not feel bad for not noticing that Father is standing at the bottom of the stairs until a voice yells, “And here I was, about to congratulate you on getting ready for patrol early.”

They’re all too well-trained to jump, but Damian can tell he wasn’t the only one startled. He and Jason make their way back to the others as Father walks toward them. Damian is sure he’ll be forced to patrol with one of the others, or be benched entirely, but then Father’s eyes catch on the skateboard that somehow has ended up by Tim’s feet and something changes.

Damian would never describe Father as soft. The Batman is never soft and though Damian is learning that Father is not the Batman all the time (he also knows it is not as simple as a “playing Brucie Wayne/being Batman” dichotomy) it is not a trait easily applied to him. If this were not his father, however, Damian would be inclined to say that at the sight of the skateboard, they softened.

He picks it up, cradling it like it’s a priceless artifact. “Is this the Redboard?” he asks.

Dick snorts, “I still can’t believe you called it that.”

Tim turns to stare at him, “Says the guy who came up with _Batmobile_.”

“ _I_ ,” Dick defends, “was _eight_ when I named the car. _You_ were a much less acceptable fourteen.”

Bruce chuckles, bringing their attention back to him. Damian is quietly stunned. He’s never seen Father look like this and he may have to reconsider his position on his father and the word “soft” because that’s the only thing that describes the way he’s looking at Tim.

“It is kind of a ridiculous name, but then again I thought Robin fighting crime on a skateboard was also ridiculous.”

“Hey,” Jason protests, “Timbo was fucking badass on that thing.”

“My point exactly,” Father agrees.

Damian has a feeling he’ll be combing through the security archives on the computer because there is no way Drake looked anything but pathetic riding around on a skateboard attempting to take down the scum of Gotham.

Father is still cradling the skateboard while he looks Tim up and down. The same strange half-smile is on his face and it is truly the thing that makes him soft. It’s like the rest of them have faded away, as Father only has eyes for Drake. Part of Damian is _furious_ that this is his unworthy predecessor making Father soft, making him laugh and smile. Another part reminds him that he is new to this family and has much to learn. Perhaps he can use Father’s strange fondness for Drake in his terrible clothing to his advantage someday. 

Father lets out a fond laugh that Damian has never heard before and says, “Glad you grew into that shirt, Tim.”

Drake glances down at it and shrugs, “It was the last one left, what was I gonna do? Not buy it?”

Father laughs that fond laugh again and says, “I suppose not.”

Damian risks a glance over to Dick who, along with Jason, somehow appeared at his side unnoticed while he watched Father and Drake interact.

“This is good, right?” Dick asks lowly. It is unclear who he is addressing. “I mean, they’re talking and Bruce looks…”

Jason nods, “It’s certainly a start.”

Damian is willing to admit that, like most of the politics within Father’s group, this conversation goes entirely over his head. He has seen no signs that Father and Drake were displeased with each other. Perhaps it is merely the two of them being dramatic.

Still, there was a certain air about the interaction. Like Father and Drake were on the edge of something delicate. Perhaps it would be something he would understand with further knowledge. Information gathering, Damian has learned, is an important part of what they do.

Father considers Drake again. “You look very much like yourself again.”

“Is that a good thing?” Drake asks hesitantly.

Father nods, “It’s a very good thing, Tim. I’m not sure the return of the music will win you much favor with Alfred, though.”

The two share a laugh and then Father looks down at the skateboard in his hands pensively.

“You know, you never did show me how to do a kickflip.”

Drake’s smile is like the sun and Damian’s annoyance is dampened by the truly _excellent_ looks on Dick and Jason’s faces. Perhaps he too will learn a “kickflip” if it gets them to look that stupid again. There may be something to Drake’s “punk” style after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I tend to change tumblr urls like they're going out of style but i can forever be found on twitter @thehazardsolove.


End file.
